The Chinese mainland will send three red pandas to Taiwan for the first time. Officials from the southeast China's Fujian Province made the announcement on Sunday. Red pandas are also known as lesser pandas, and resemble racoons.

Three red pandas have been chosen from a research center in the provincial capital Fuzhou. Two are female. Officials hope this move can help the species breed in Taiwan. The Taipei Municipal Zoo, which will be the pandas' new home, has welcomed the news.

The red panda is native to Southwestern China and the eastern Himalayas. The species has been classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It's estimated that there are fewer than 10,000 mature red pandas world wide.

(CNTV.cn June 17, 2013)